and on the agenda today, legislation dealing with airport security, recovering oil spill cleanup cost, and flood insurance. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy. chaplain conroy: let us pray. blessed are you mersyful god. you have given a new birth and made us a living hope for the

world. as a nation, we have inherited great natural resources and unfailing principles to guide our destiny. by your power, you have safeguarded faith in your people. you have made us ready to reveal our time your createist and goodness in us and for the common good of all. we rejoice in your blessings upon this congress and the people they represent. even during times of various trials and moments of struggle, our gaze is fixed on you as the source of all goodness and foundation of peace. may genuine faith which is more prosheous than gold be proven in us. blessed this day and every day and all that is done within the people's house be for your greater honor and glory, amen.

the speaker pro tempore: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house his approval. pursuant to clause 1, rule 1, the journal stands approved. the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentleman from michigan, mr. kildee. mr. kildee: please join us in the pledge. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain requests for one-minute speeches. for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota seek recognition? >> request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. emmer: mr. speaker, i rise today to honor saint michael al

berville superintendent dr. jim bailey who is approaching retirement will mark the end of a 39-year career in education. in addition to his time as superintendent throughout the past four decades, dr. bailey has served as a teacher, principal, guidance counselor, and associate superintendent. dr. bailey is one of the most beloved and revered members of our community because it is of his dedication to our children. under his strong leadership the district had many achievements including ranking among the top 15% in the state for reading and math scores. as a testament to bailey's hard work, the school board reluctantly accepted his resignation before making the statement, quote, this is a great loss to the district and if at any point you change your mind, don't hesitate to let us know. his service to our community will surely be missed and we thank him for his years of commitment to generations of st. michael albertville students and their parents.

enjoy your retirement, dr. bailey. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan seek recognition? mr. kildee: i seek unanimous consent to drefment the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. without objection. mr. kildee: thank you, mr. speaker. so far this house of representatives has done nothing to help the people of my hometown of flint, michigan. i left flint this morning, i left behind a city of 100,000 people who for two years now have not been able to drink the water coming out of their tap. it's a disaster, it's a public health crisis. it demands a response not just from the state government which clearly is it principally responsible for what happened, but the people of my hometown are american citizens and have a right to have their national government, the federal government step in and help

them in the moment of their greatest need. this is the job of the united states congress. we have legislation that would provide relief to the people of flint. rather than arguing over blame, that will come in time. there's been plenty of time devoted to that subject. the legislation that i offer would have the federal government and the state government equally share in the cost of putting this community back together and getting people in flint, michigan, something that every american ought to be able to get up in the morning and take for granted and that is that the water they drink is clean and safe and will not make them sick. it is time for this house to act. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the the gentlewoman from north carolina seek recognition? ms. foxx: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. earlier this month i visited

with students in the cyberkids afterschool program at bethlehem elementary school. this program enriches learning through research, team collaboration, and communication in the stem areas. we started the visit by discussing the u.s. constitution, then the students staged a skit that explained the process of how a bill becomes a law. in the performance they detected a problem, came up with a solution, collect collected signatures for a petition they presented to their representatives who introduced the bill and demonstrated how members of the house and senate arrive at a compromise and turn legislation into law. i had the honor of signing the legislation and the students held a mock press conference to discuss the new law. the aptitude these students showed during my visit was impressive and inspiring and i commend everyone involved in this innovative educational program. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the chair lays before the house

a communication. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, sir. pursuant to the permission granted in clause 2-h of rule 2 of the rules of the u.s. house of representatives the clerk received the following message from the secretary of the senate on april 26, 2016, at 9:20 a.m. that the senate passed senate 1579. with best wishes i am, signed sincerely, karen l. haas. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house "n recess until approxima>> "wl

continues. host: pennsylvania is the biggest rise of the five primary contest taking place today. for a deep dive into their politics, we're joined by harrisburg from -- by terry madonna. we have learned anything about this primary season, it's that each state has its own rules for who can vote and how the vote works. take us through the rules governing pennsylvania today. who can vote in today's primary? guest: you have to be of legal age, 18 and over. we have not part, had very much controversy in this state about it. there has been a lot of controversy over felons and once they pay their dues and get out of resin and get back into society, whether they can vote. we have not had a big issue here. one of the things that is fascinating is we have had a pretty substantial uptick in

voter registration. 5.5% overicans are up last year and the democrats are up 2.5%. intereststrates this we have seen throughout the primary and caucus process. on the republican side of the aisle, largely because of the competition. at one point, 17 republican candidates and of course the energy level that donald trump is brought to the campaign. we are looking for a very substantial turnout today on the republican side. i'm not sure about the democrats. one of the other situations is trump on a side and hillary clinton on the democratic side have double-digit leads. as the voters turnout, the drama is not so much who wins but how close is the margin. on the republican side, the focus has been on these delegate

rules that have been cited in innumerable times throughout the country in terms of how different they are for most other states. host: you talk about the turnout among democrats and republicans, independents cannot participate today? guest: yeah, i think we have one ballot question that matters. it has to do with the philadelphia traffic court. independents can turn out to vote for that particular question on the ballot but they cannot vote for the democratic and republican primary. another question on the ballot will not count. you go and vote and the vote will not count because the ballot question has been ruled impermissible by a judge. that has to do with whether we should raise the retirement age ,f state judges in pennsylvania

mandatory age from 70-75. . i judge said it's not valid and we will push it off to the fall. -- people will put their eczema block but it will not matter. host: the delegate allocation matters. they are being closely watched him a number needed to win the democratic side is 2383. is 1237.publican side, take us through how the delegates will be allocated in pennsylvania? guest: the democrats are fairly easy to do. 210 delegates on the democratic side, 21 of the superdelegates. democratic officeholders and every democratic member of congress in pennsylvania. there are five of 18 members of the congressional delegates who are democrats.

there are a number of other party people. from what we can tell, they are mostly committed to secretary clinton as we have found out nationally where she has a huge 516 of theem, about 712 overall. 189 are on the ballot area in pennsylvania, democrats pledged to a candidate so it would be mary jones pledged to bernie sanders. bob smith pledged to hillary clinton. the fascinating side which is being reported is how the republicans pick their delegates. there are 71 delegates. 17 go with the popular vote winner. whoever wins this date, you don't have to have a majority, a plurality does it -- 17 goes to the popular vote winner. then you get into the issue of the 54 other delegates that are

unbound. without getting into the weeds on this, pennsylvania has 18 congressional districts. there are three delegates elected out of each congressional district, three times 18 is 54. so 54 total. when individuals go to vote today, they will get to pick three names from a choice of names that are on the ballot but no connection to a presidential candidate. no connection at all. of 162re a total delegate candidates who want to go to the republican convention in cleveland in the third week of july. three out of each congressional district. this is where gets interesting -- the campaign just started and has reached out trying to get the delegate candidates known and their choice.

there will be slate cards handed out. the donald trump people are little behind but they are starting to catch up. vote for mary jones, if she goes to the convention, she will vote for donald trump. here is the rub -- no matter what they have said they will do, whatever candidate i have stated a preference for, they are unbound by the rules and they are free to vote for anyone, any candidate on any ballot. host: we like getting down into the weeds on this program. we are asking our callers to join in. we have a special line for pennsylvania voters.

we can discuss the franklin and marshall poll that has been in the state for over two decades. you talked about donald trump with a big lead in this poll but a month a go, john kasich was much closer. what has changed in pennsylvania in the past month? basically, in march, john kasich one ohio a net gave him a big lift and marco rubio dropped out. since that time, it has been tough for john kasich. he has not won a single state since ohio. the delegate selection is relatively low. short ofr 1000 votes getting the magic 1737. mathematically, he is eliminated. he is basically around if there is a second or third ballot at the convention. i think he has lost a lot of momentum. what's going on in pennsylvania,

every poll done the past two weeks shows donald trump somewhere between 40-50% with ted cruz and john kasich in the mid to high 20's so the polls are consistent. what has happened is that donald trump has picked up a good read of the important demographics in this state just as he did in new york. pennsylvania has the fourth oldest population in the state. who wins voters over 55? donald trump. who wins male voters? donald trump. earn 35-50,000 dollars of income or less? who wins voters with high school educations or less? donald trump area he wins the gun owners and the catholics. the you go through demographics of this and look at the regions of the state, donald reasonsetty well has

and he competes with john kasich in the voter rich philadelphia suburbs, an area of the state where we would expect kasich to do well. voters are moderate, income is slightly higher, john kasich is leading in most polls, but trump does do very well among those voters in the philadelphia suburbs. host: if you want to go through the polling report, it is available online, you can found it -- find it at fa ndm.politics.com. lines were republicans, democrats and independents are usual. in pennsylvania, republican, you are up. caller: thank you for c-span.

this deal about the delegates in pennsylvania, house and many of them are uncommitted -- how so many of them are uncommitted. i called all the ones running in the district and tried to find out who were they -- who they were supporting. most of them would not tell me who they are supporting, only that they would vote for whoever the district voted for, at least on the first ballot. some of them came out later and put a letter in the local paper that they were going to support ted cruz. polls today,o the it is like buying a paik -- a ig. you don't know who these people are going to vote for. are you seeing a lot of what jim was talking about in

pennsylvania? guest: jim makes a great point. in the surveys that have been done by reporters, there are 162 delegates total. than any other category, they said whichever presidential candidate carries my congressional district is who i will vote for. more recently, we have learned 162 sayut 31 of the they will vote for donald trump, about 28 or so have said they will vote for ted cruz, meaning out of that 128 scattered, -- hundred 62 scattered throughout the congressional districts, it is hard to know. suspect todayi when people go to vote, if you really want to go to the convention and you think your district is going to go for whoever, you will only hand out what we call slate cards.

hi mary jones voting for donald trump, when you go in and vote, but the x in the box for me. i think you will have a fair thent of that, particularly ted cruz campaign has been trying to get a delegate that say they are going to vote for crews -- ted cruz, get that information out. most voters are going to go and not know anything but a name. that creates some confusion. we are talking with the director of the center for politics and public tears at franklin and marshall college. taking your calls for the next half hour. janet in florida, a democrat. caller: good morning. nurse retired registered and i live in florida. my sister lives in pennsylvania.

elections andhe we both decided that we would be fine with hillary or bernie. for the pennsylvania election, my sister changed her registration to vote in the republican primary, so she could trumpgainst donald because we think he is a danger to this country. she plans to vote today for kasich. i tried to go online and help delegates, but you cannot figure out who these people are for. it is a little disturbing that she went to all this trouble to vote against donald trump. none -- neither of us in the general election are going to

vote for any republicans. go says she cannot wait to back to being a democrat and that she feels dirty being a republican, but that is her plan, devote her kasich. how much of that is going on, people changing their party registration to vote against somebody? guest: that is another aspect of the campaign that received a good bit of attention. 92,000 people, since the beginning of this calendar year went from democratic party's, third parties and independent to republican. went from republican, third party or independent to democrat. a very large number. let's talk about why people might have switched to the republican party. , andvoters who did that

there have been interviews, there is nothing quantitative, but my sense is that they switched the vote for trump. these would be trump supporters. you find them in areas of the is likely to do well in. others switched to support john kasich or ted cruz and remember, early on, marco rubio was in the race. we don't know how many, but there are certainly more than a handful who went from democrat to republican to do what we call strategic voting. that is a political science term. it means i'm going to vote for donald trump because i think he is the easiest candidate for hillary clinton or bernie sanders to beat in the fall general election.

host: is there any penalty for strategic voting? guest: no. i call it sabotage voting. you are trying to help one party out by getting the nomination for someone you think would be easier to beat. that was all the rage in our state for about two weeks. that dominated the attention because of a large number of people who switched the parties. a lot of it on a republican side, look, there were 17 people in the republican nomination battle. in january and february when in, people switching were switching primarily because of trump and the excitement of the republican race. host: republican, john is in pennsylvania.

caller: good morning. i would like to say i am a trump supporter and my wife is, too. of what might happen if he does become president but i understand what -- where he is coming from. dirty systemg the of the political system in this country and if he does not get imination, i'm not sure who would vote for, but under no circumstances what i vote for any democrat. trump can beat hillary, i believe. the: as you are looking at returns coming in tonight, where would you expect the biggest trump support and if there is an upset where should viewers be should -- upset, where should viewers be looking? guest: the polls show up in the

and thet and northwest upper portions of the state. if you look at the demographics, donald trump does well with a particular -- individuals who we would refer to as a reagan democrat. i'm not saying he was, but we are talking about voters to got upset with the party and left the party when it became too liberal. these are voters who tend to be conservative on social questions and believe that there is not enough patriotism and they want strong national security, who don't like some of the policies that our government has towards immigration. trumps the element of that we have seen in the primaries and caucuses to date. the area of the state i will down inclosely with the

the suburban counties of philadelphia where the republican voters tend to be upscale inte and term of personal finances, probably have college education. if trump does well, given where -- where we know he will do well, that could help to give him a larger than expected victory. my sense is that he wins by somewhere between 15 and 20 points. the only question is, how many delegates does he get out of that? the caller is really on to something that the polls have tracked. donald trump has caught the support of a lot of voters who think that government and politics does not represent them, that the country is on the wrong track. -- tells it like it is.

it, he sticks his proverbial finger in the eye of the establishment. regardless of what he says and how controversial it is and some of what he has said has been beyond prerogative, he has that hard-core one third support that he has maintained from the beginning of the candidacy. host: on the republican side of the aisle, 71 delegates up for grabs in pennsylvania. on the democratic side, 210. pennsylvania is the biggest prize of the day. we are talking pennsylvania politics with terry madonna for about the next 20 minutes or so. june in florida, republican. caller: good morning. go ahead with your comments.

ok.er: i'm calling in to try and get our voters to think about the issues and the presidency of the united states. we don't want this tomfoolery of donald trump. it is ridiculous. that wantrious people to talk about the issues. how can we know what's going on get all that goofiness of his? him, isick of seeing turned him off as fast as i see him on the tv. host: who are you supporting? caller: ted cruz. and secondary, john kasich, but ted cruz from the very

beginning, i have had a lot of interest in what he has a say and his seriousness, but it's not particularly because of crews, it's the issues that are fitting and could give me a nervous breakdown with this trump business. if i had to see him for four years as my president, i don't know how loyal i can be. host: june with her thoughts in florida. let's go to stanley, democrats in texas. caller: good morning. how are you? host: well, go ahead. like 63 people changing over to republican, the same thing, trump is the leading candidate for the president, but he's not very good at this. he's not covering his area very good and most people don't even know what to vote on at this

time. they think that ted cruz to do the best as far as republicans, but on the democrat side, ellery ought to be the next thing to vote on. she seems to be the candidate that is doing best in the washington area, covering the presidency very good. she seems to be -- doing very good at her own personal self. i think being the president should be a good thing rate candidate that is running best in our country, taking her of our country. host: that was stanley in texas. when it comes to issues candidates are running on, what are the the issues that have impacted pennsylvania? trade was such a big issue in earlier primaries and a big issue in recent weeks. it has, particularly out in the southwest and milltown and mining areas, places that

once dominated the pennsylvania economy. they fall into three categories, the economy, personal finance, ,he fact that many voters particularly those that support donald trump believe that they have not recovered from the recession. the wage gap, all of the aspects of creating jobs, good paying jobs that the candidates talk about. the other is foreign policy, the fear and concern about -- on the war of terror, policies in the middle east and the third and this polls actually higher than the other two is the disgruntlement with politics and government. the disenchantment that in exists andist and -- that is reaching a fever pitch in our government and that has to do with internal situations in the state of pennsylvania. the candidates have largely tailor their message to certain

areas of the state. out intrump is pittsburgh, talking about bringing jobs to the region. bernie sanders spends a good bit of time on college campuses. he has been at temple university, penn state, pitt, he has been to gettysburg college and millersville university, focusing on the millennials. in addition, hillary goes to philadelphia and talks about her connections. she talks about local issues, she is localizing the election because of her personal roots more than any other candidate. her dad was born in scranton, her grandfather was born there. your dad played football for penn state -- her dad played football for penn state. she goes the churches in philadelphia and talks about gun control and gangs. what an idiot a candidate, she has localized the race if you get my drift, talking about

voters wouldocal pay attention to. host: lancaster, pennsylvania, nancy, republican. bringing back jobs, abolishing the irs, i am at 10 true supporter and i want to make it known that i did find a way to find out who his delegates are. he made it clear to those of us who are is supporter -- are his supporters. he came to her she and he had paperwork and identified all of his delegates who were going to be voting for him, so i wrote them down. i could not take a picture of them, so i wrote them down and i have been disseminating them or a week or more, or whatever that was to all the people that i know that want ted cruz.

to the this goes back ground game, someone who has been very well organized in the beginning. i know who i'm voting for. good morning to both of you, by the way. thank you for calling us before you vote in terms of the organizational efforts can you speak to that? guest: the ted cruz people seem much more organized, they have slate cards, trying to reach out. it is a mixed bag. if we have this huge turnout that we expect among republicans, there are still going to be a large number of voters who will go to the poll said they and not really be able to identify the delegates choices. that, you are liable to walk into a polling place and have to go through a gamut between people handing you slate cards for all sorts of things

which you can take with you into the voting booth. there will be a certain amount of confusion, but there is no doubt, the caller is right. ted cruz's people have done a better job of this than the trunk people -- trump people. i have seen efforts by trump supporters to get out who his delegates are. be a fairthere will amount of confusion when people go to the polls. host: in pennsylvania, not only are the pennsylvania primaries happening, the congressional primaries are happening as well, one of two states holding its congressional primaries today. maryland is the other state holding a congressional primary. gary is in maryland, democrat. with bernieoncern sanders situation. i hope he does not become a danger because right now, it looks like predominately,

hillary is going to win the bid. the thing that bothers me is ernie is pushing these viewpoints of his which will not work in the united states. i have friends that live abroad and would not want the government taking 65% out of my paycheck to give free this or free that, education, all the socialists ask that bernie is putting forward. if he loses today, i think he should submit, hillary has it, she is moving forward. he has pushed her and up to the left. he has done a great job of that, but i hope he does not\and become a danger by hanging in there too long in making our party look like the book -- republican party because they are totally confused with donald trump. i would say don't let them take america back, the republicans

because what the heck is make america great again? i'll be going back to slavery or something, we are doing very well with president obama. he has been handed a bunch of craft on the republicans -- bunch of crap from the republicans. they really loaded him up with 800 thousands -- 800,000 in job losses. forget about this make america great again. host: terry madonna on the story tomorrow, if it is a hillary clinton sweep in all five states. guest: she needs about 440 delegates to cinch the nomination. as an analyst, i don't like to end elections, but how can you fact shehat given the is virtually there.

she is expected to win all five ,tates that are up for grabs today, given rhode island with a possible exception. when you go back to the superdelegates, there are 712 of them and at this point, she has about 516 of them. in other words, she is likely to be the nominee. bernie sanders in an interview has said that he will go right to the convention. he actually talked about something that i suspect he will try to do and that is to influence the platform at the democratic convention in philadelphia. i think he is going to stay in, he wants to give this week at the convention and wants to do the platform and keep clinton on the road that she is on as she has moved to the left over the last several months.

it is virtually impossible to believe that she does not win the nomination, given the lead that she has and what is likely to happen. pennsylvania, alex, public and -- republican. go ahead with your comment. i am a 20 something in york, pennsylvania, and i was -- really feeling kasich a lot. i like the way his campaign is more positive, but with in the last few days, this whole ted cruz, john kasich alliance rubbed me the wrong way and i just wanted to know from your point of view, is there any real parallels that can ultimately trumpnce trunk voters --

voters to sway over to ted cruz or kasich or, voters that were going to vote at all and are now coming out. i don't see what the ultimate theory was behind this alliance. i think that is a great question and i thought when they announced that sort of arrangement, that it was not the best idea. of backed off, indicating that he once is voters to still vote for him in indiana. the fact of the matter is, i think it plays to the trump theative that this is republican establishment, the rulers of the party trying to manipulate the process. he called it an act of desperation. i could not agree more, i don't know where it gets them. there is an argument about if

trump had been matched up with either one of them for the longer time and they did not divide up the anti-trump vote, that that would help one of the other gain momentum and pick up more delegates. both of them are mathematically excluded from winning the nomination on the first ballot. thatact of the matter is this is just about denying donald trump 1237. it gives them a trump a great narrative to use throughout the course of the campaign, and i don't think it gets them very much. host: jacksonville, florida, democrat, josie. caller: good morning. i hear donald trump say that he is going to be the best job creator. products are made in mexico and china and honduras.

those are the only ones i remember. i wonder when he will bring those jobs back to the usa. have you heard any campaign ads about that? host: i'm sure you have seen many campaign ads, your way. guest: i don't think i have seen one of them and the caller is talking about inconsistencies in campaigns. that is the rule, not the exception. some cases you get these inconsistencies. the point that i have tried to make is people look at donald trump, and say he is not andervative, is he liberal everybody trying to decide that he has positions that are both liberal and conservative. he angered both sides on the abortion question a few weeks ago, something i thought was impossible to do. the fact of the matter is, he is not a conservative, don't think

of him as conservative or liberal, he is a populist and he is getting in touch with the anger and frustration that voters feel. he is a consummate showman who knows how to use that. there is no doubt his campaign lacks specifics. there is no doubt that it is unclear how he would work with congress should he be elected. there dealing in a campaign likes of which we may not have seen throughout the course of american history. host: a comment from john in north carolina as we've been talking about the delegates, unbound and down to delegate system. he writes if i vote for candidate x and faceless collector why, there was a good chance i may have cost candidate x two net delegates. good system. let's go to michael in illinois, independent. caller: i have a comment.

have a militia group in illinois and we are all veterans and we find astounding that every newscast in our offices, all these people like you talk about is how they will take the election races and everybody casts a vote and make their own choice and our votes don't count. what you are doing is upsetting people. we are angry that we are not accounted for. everybody is worried about protecting their money and their election and all you pundits are only worried about keeping the money in the campaign financing going. the basic right of every american is the right to vote, yet all of our votes are not going to count, the selection and when this election is over, you will see rides in the streets, a rise of people worse than isis because we have had enough. host: michael in illinois on the concern about those not counting and concern about the frustration it could cause. guest: as you know, when the

last time we were debating delegate selection in this country? we have gone through a couple of decades of election in which by mid-march, we know the nominees of the party, because they have wrapped up the nominations in one form or another with a sizable lead or the actual necessary majority. we have never had this debate. as we talk about local historians, you go back to 1976 was short at- ford the convention and what his campaign had to do to get the majority on the first ballot, which he succeeded. on now is, we are seeing this disconnect with the voters who cast votes for delegates and the operational theory that has been in existence since literally beginning of the republican delegatest it is the

that take the nominee, not the voters. history, theye of have literally deferred that choice to the delegates of convention and because it has been basically wrapped up, there has been no need to get into this business. 90% of the republican delegates on the first ballot are bound, at least through the first ballot. that is where you get into this argument about, should the delegates at the nominee or should the party voters pick the nominee or whoever voted in the process depending on the state, this is the first time we have in -- i don'te river the debate taking place -- remember the debate taking place.

the democrats had a series of rules changes after the democratic convention when fewer concrete won the nomination without entering a single primary. the party split apart, richard nixon got elected and the democratic party and through a series of rules changes which the republican party someone followed. that is the big disconnect the party was talking about and it is very important. host: a minute or two left with terry mcdonald. phoebe is waiting, democrat. caller: if you are voting for donald trump, you are voting against climate change, they are using this big old airplane and burning up all the gas and when in atlantic city declares bankruptcy, who got hurt, all of his voters -- workers, i'm voting for bernie sanders. host: i will give you the last minute on the storyline,

tomorrow, you talked about the democratic side, what about the republican side? caller: that a trump is going to turnoutepending on the and which set of voters vote, we look forward to how close it will be, what we know about the delegates election, we expect him to end the day picking up about 90 to 100 delegates in total in the five states. the question will be, how many delegates does he win, does he have any momentum, have kasich and ted cruz been able to halt that momentum and is thus a many delegates -- not so much how many delegates in the pickup, but how many delegates they can deny donald trump. host: if you want to see -- terry madonna is the director of the england and mars

>> five states holding presidential primaries, connecticut, delaware, maryland, pistol and rhode island. we will have the results and your reaction starting tonight at 8:30 p.m. and the house coming back in in 10 minutes dealing with airport security today as well as recovering oil spill cleanup costs and flood insurance and the businesson as the u.s. official national mammal. a look at the primaries happening today in five states. . host: it seems like from the polling it is going to be a good day for front runners. is right. donald trump and hillary clinton are both entering as the favorites in their respective parties for the five states holding primaries today. all in the northeastern part of the country.

the state will offer the most delegates today will be pennsylvania, but the roles are a little quirky on the republican side. even though donald trump, polls show him with a double-digit lead, it does not mean he can walk away with the lions share of the 71 delegates up for grabs because only 17 of those delegates will go to the overall statewide winner. are elected directly on the ballot. voters when they enter their polling stations today they will vote for someone for president and each district they will vote for three delegates to send to the national convention. they're going to be unbound. they will be able to vote for whoever they want on the first ballot. delegates could wind up playing a big role if we get to a national convention and donald trump does not enter with that 1237 number. host: for viewers who might have questions about those strange or you need delegate rules in pennsylvania, i would encourage them to stick around because we

are going to spend 45 minutes talking about that with terry madonna. adam wollner, if there is an upset today in one of those five states, what is the state that you would put the money on? adam: boy, it is really tough to say because especially on the republican side, all five states are really not very favorable territory for ted cruz. especially as he emerged as the most viable trump alternative. he has relied pretty have agreed an evangelical base. on the democratic side, bernie sanders might be able to do a little bit better than others is rhode island's of the because independent voters will be able to cast ballots in rhode island. most of the other states voting closed primaries, meaning that only registered democrats can vote. and those are the contest where bernie sanders has especially struggled.

rhode island is maybe a little closer -- but it is still. trump and clinton do enter all five states as pretty considerable favorites. host: back to the republican side for a minute, yesterday we saw a lot of reporting about this agreement between the cruz and kasich camps to look ahead to three upcoming primaries and duty them out. some -- divvy them up. some reporting today that that agreement seems shaky. adam: it is. less than 12 hours after that deal was announced. you have to wonder what the parameters are. john kasich yesterday said it does not necessarily mean that in indiana should vote for ted cruz, just that he is not going to be spending a lot of time or money there. ted cruz's super pac is still running an ad on kasich in indiana. so, clearly, neither one of them

are going to be seeding these stat -- ceding these states. you thought that john kasich was going to stay out of indiana. and ted cruz would stay out of oregon. these are two candidates have not always gotten along. their supporters, there is not a lot of crossover there. be difficult, even if john kasich wanted to, to convince is more moderate meaning supporters in indiana to vote for a much more conservative candidate like ted cruz. even in the ultimate goal of stopping, chop. -- stopping trump. host: adam wollner covers it all for "the national journal." c'll >> speeches from the candidates

and we'll get your reaction starting at 8:30 eastern time. the house coming back in in five minutes dealing with airport security, recovering oil spill cleanup costs and flood insurance. >> independent media is the oxygen of a democracy. it's essential. holding those in power accountable. we're not there to serve some kind of corporate agenda. hen we cover warranties. >> sunday night, journalist amy goodman, host and executive producer of "democracy now." talks about the book she authored, which looks back at the stories and people the show covered. >> the idea started 20 years ago, it hasn't changed.

bringing out the voices of people at the grassroots in the united states and around the world and they represent the majority of people. i mean, i think people who are concerned deeply about war and peace, about the growing inequality dem this country. about climate change, the state of the planet, are not a fringe minority, not even a silent majority but the silent majority silenced by the corporate media. .> sunday night on c-span >> on american history tv on c-span 3. >> therefore this committee has undertaken such an investigation. its purpose is not to impair the f.b.i.'s legitimate law enforcement, but rather to evaluate domestic intelligence according to the standards of

the constitution and the statutes of our land. >> a senate select committee chaired by senator frank church, democrat from idaho was convened to conduct an investigation into the f.b.i., n.s.a. and this is the 40th anniversary and look at portions of the 1975 hearings. saturday night at 10:00 eastern questioning commissioner william colby. >> i cannot explain why that quantity was developed except this was a collaboration that we were engaged in with the united states army and we did develop this particular weapon, you might say, as a possible -- for possible use. >> and on the civil war at 6:00. >> in 1860, the united states was 70 years old and not old enough to have wisdom. at least then they had been

living in virginia for 2235 years. he made a decision that april evening and that devotion for duty came in 1861. his primary duty was to his family and his family had been citizens of virginia and old dominion was lee's birthright. >> talks about general robert e. lee and his campaigns throughout the state. and road to the white house rewind, a film chronicles the 1968 presidential race and president johnson's surprised withdrawal. and at 8:00 on the presidency. >> he won as a result of that, because one's ability in foreign policy and head of state of the united states as the head -- chief of the armed forces is the

leading power in the world and free world is to think responsibly about what one can achieve and try to define one's policies and try to understand geo politics. >> jeremy black looks at the origins of the cold war and president eisenhower. for the complete american history tv schedule go to c-span.org. >> and back in just a moment to the u.s. house for legislative business taking up bills under suspension of the rules including measures dealing with airport security, recovering oil spill cleanup costs and flood insurance, emergency preparedness and a bill to designate the bison as the official u.s. national mammal. the bald eagle was adopted as the national bird symbol of the united states back in 1872.

the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from new jersey, mr. garrett, and mr. capuano, will

each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. garrett: thank you, mr. speaker. to begin i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks as soon as i find my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. garrett: i rise in support investor clarity and bank parity act. i wand to thank mr. capuano of massachusetts and mr. stivers of ohio. this week is technical and needed legislation to bring it to the floor today. you see, mr. speaker, during this time of divided government it may come as a surprise to some that the financial services committee has generated a significant amendment of bipartisan legislation since the beginning

of 2015. in fact, this congress -- our committee has approved over 70 bills with the vast majority of these receiving bipartisan support and in many cases unanimous support. so i'm pleased we were able to bring to the floor today a number of bills that received the backing of both republicans and democrats out of our committee. one of these bills is the investor clarity and bank parity act, which passed out of the committee by a voice vote. what does that bill do? this bill corrects a statutory error made in section 619 of the dodd-frank, more commonly known as the volker rule. it limits bank holding companies to invest in hedge funds collectively known as covered funds. now, we had a number of debates in this committee as to the general debate of the rule and whether it reduces systemic risk and whether it helps taxpayers or not. so long as section 619 is the law of the language, congress

should do what it can to limit any negative and unintended consequences of the volcker rule. because of the way dodd-frank was drafted, a bank or one of the affiliates was prohibited from sharing its name by a covered fund that it was invested in. and so by disallowing a covered fund to share a name with the sponsoring entity this provision of the volcker rule could actually lead to more and widespread investor confusion about who's actually managing the assets of that particular fund. as jeffrey plunkett of the nexus global management told our subcommittee back in february he said, we believe the compliance of the name risks confusion and burden firms that are affiliated with banks that lead to a lack of transparency for clients, end quote. so the fix envisioned here in h.r. 4096 is really a simple one. it allows a covered fund to share a name with a sponsoring

entity to add clarity and transparency to its investor and so i urge my colleagues to vote yes on h.r. 4096 and with that i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. capuano. . mr. capuano. . mr. capuano: i rise in support of h.r. 409 for the exact reasons that mr. garrett said. i am a strong proponent and supporter of the volcker rule and i would not undermine that rule. that's not what this would do. this is a clarification. even as a supporter of the rule, this is not the outcome we intended. it's simply to clarify naming abilities by certain entities. i want to be also clear that nothing in this provision would allow something like the bank of america fund. you still cannot name it after a bank. these are a subsidiaries of some bank. in this particular case,

natixus happens to be in my district. they also happen to be affiliated with lummis sales. it is not a bank but an affiliate of a bank and therefore lummis sales would not have to say but call it a funny name, abcd fund. that's not the intention of the volcker rule. it is to make sure the finances of this country and world are as stable as possible so people can't have conflicts of interest and on and on and on. this is a technical amendment, something i strongly support and with that i reserve -- i think i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. garrett: and as much as the gentleman has yielded back, has no other speakers, i don't believe we have any other speakers on this side of the aisle and which begin i'll close by saying thank you for gentleman for working with us and hope -- there you go -- sooner rather than later. and with that i encourage members on both sides of the aisle to support this bipartisan piece of legislation

and i, too, yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 4096. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, thirds thirds -- mr. garrett: mr. speaker, i would request the yeas and nays. recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this uestion will be postponed.

for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? mr. garrett: again, thank you, mr. speaker. i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 5019, that's to direct the securities and exchange commission to provide a safe harbor related to certain investment fund research reports, and for other urposes. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 5019, a bill to direct the securities and exchange commission to provide a safe harbor related to certain investment fund research reports, and for other urposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from new jersey, mr. garrett, and the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. capuano, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. garrett: i thank the speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include any other extraneous material on this bill. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. garrett: and at this time, mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. garrett: thank you. mr. speaker, i thank the speaker and i rise in support of h.r. 5019, the fair access

to investment research act of 2016, and i want to thank the gentleman from arkansas, mr. hill, who will be speaking in a little bit for his diligent work on this piece of legislation as well as for his value and his input that he has brought all year long to the capital markets subcommittee. see, mr. speaker, one of the most positive developments in our economy over the last several decades is what has been dubbed the demock are atyization of our capital -- democratization of our capital markets. more americans have the ability to take control of their investments and have access to products that used to be reserved for rich and professionals. investment funds have become more cost-effective over the years as well. one of these products is the exchange traded fund, or the e.t.f. what are e.t.f.'s? they are a securities made of

stocks and bonds and because of the diversity and cost-effectiveness they have become increasingly popular with investments. they hold roughly $2 trillion in assets and 1.7 million households hold them as part of their investment portfolio. due to a long standing technicality in securities laws there is a dirt of research to investers and depriving them of valuable information they need to make their informed decisions and so the sec in the past provided safe harbors under security laws for brokers that provide research reports for listed stocks or corporate debt. but despite this and despite broad public sport, the s.e.c. has not provided a similar safe harbor for e.t.f. research reports. because of this brokers are fear of legal action, either from the s.e.c. or another private party. and so we have this today, the fair access to investment research act, which would

correct this anomaly by providing a safe harbor for e.t.f.'s similar to ones that exist for corporate debt. this is a simple yet much-needed piece of legislation to help investors, particularly year mom and pop-type investors to understand more about the products they are putting their hard-earned money into. again, i thank mr. hill, again, not only for your work on this legislation but truly for all the expertise and advice you have brought to the subcommittee this session. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. capuano. mr. capuano: i yield to the primary democratic sponsor of this bill, mr. carney of delaware. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from delaware. mr. carney: i want to thank mr. capuano for yielding me some time and those that worked hard to improve this bill. i'd like to recognize and thank my colleague, mr. hill, for

introducing this legislation. i appreciate his continued willingness to work with me on this important issue and to fine tune this bill to address concerns we heard, particularly from members of this side of the aisle. the fair act has a very simple purpose -- to provide investors better access to research on exchange traded funds and other similar products. e.t.f.'s are one of the fastest growing investment vehicles in the market. net assets have grown from $102 billion in 2002 to $1.8 trillion in 2014. the number of e.t.f.'s on the market have increased 23% over the same period of time. but compared to other assets classes, there's limited research about them available. as the interest in e.t.f.'s continue to grow, we need to make sure that investors have access to relyable information on these funds and -- reliable information on these funds and

their investments. the s.e.c. has been looking to expand a safe harbor for e.t.f. research for over 15 years, and every time this issue has come up before the s.e.c. it's received favorable feedback. in fact, during the capital markets subcommittee hearing there was unanimous agreement among the witnesses which is not easy to come by in our subcommittee that the s.e.c. shall promulgate a rule providing a safe harbor for e.t.f. research. since this legislation was originally introduced, a lot has gone into improving it. we've worked very closely with ranking member waters, the s.e.c. and fnra to ensure this legislation does what it's intended to do. we've taken their suggestions to improve numerous provisions of the bill, and i want to thank mr. hill, again, for his flexibility in doing that. this new version reflects a year of collaboration among democrats, republicans and the

regulators. the finished product is a clarified, more effective version of the original bill. i'm proud to say i believe that we've arrived at an agreement that works for everyone. and, again, i'd like to thank mr. hill for his leadership on this issue and i urge all my colleagues to vote yes on this legislation. thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back to the gentleman from massachusetts. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. mr. capuano: reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. garrett: thank you, mr. speaker. at this time i yield such time as he may consume the sponsor and the gentleman from arkansas, mr. hill. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from arkansas, mr. hill. mr. hill: i thank the speaker. i thank the gentleman from new jersey for his leadership of the capital markets subcommittee. i appreciate greatly the kind comments and sponsorship and good work from my friend, mr. carney of delaware, and today, mr. speaker, i rise in support of h.r. 5019, the fair act, fair access to investment

research act. this bill is similar to a bill that i introduced with mr. carney that passed the house as a part of h.r. 1675, and passed our committee by a strong bipartisan vote. as my friend from delaware said, we worked diligently to improve this legislation and worked carefully with our colleagues in the minority to make sure this bill fully represents the bipartisan consensus on the intent of the fair act. . it allows broker dealers to issue reports on the rapidly growing medium of exchange traded funds, the e.t.f. market. since i started my investment firm in the late 1990's, i seen the market grow from 100 funds and $100 billion in assets to and $14 billion in

assets. and additional trillion might shift since the latest rule actually goes into effect. further, today's e.t.f.'s are complicated and require analysis on the part of investors. despite their growth in popularity and increasing importance to retail investors most broker dealers do not publish research on e.t.f. due to the anomaly in the security laws that mr. garrett so ably discussed. throughout this process, there has been universal support for increasing investor knowledge and information on e.t.f.'s that a safe harbor makes good sense. as mr. carney said this issue is not unfamiliar to the commission. as has been raised to the s.e.c.

and by the s.e.c. several times over the past 17 years, more recently in 2004. as a part of its securities reform proposal, the commission whether 139mment on should be proposed if it is an investment company. the comments were supportive, ut the rule was never adopted. steps to facilitate research to this useful information is long overdue. the fair act is to provide a safe harbor so these reports are not considered offers under section 5 of this securities act of 1933. this mirrors the safe harbor implemented by the s.e.c.

the bill helps the s.e.c. organize its 50 front burners and holds it accountable to follow congress' direction by requiring the permission to finalize rules within 180 days or interim safe harbor will take effect until the rule is proposed and finalized. with close to six million u.s. households, investors need access to be better informed and make better long-term investment decisions. i would like to thank the chairman, mr. carney, mrs. maloney and all of the staff on both the majority and minority side working to develop this commonsense proposal to provide more information to american investors and i encourage all of my colleagues to support this commonsense bill. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts.

mr. capuano: we have no further speakers. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. mr. garrett: seeing no further speakers at this time and appreciate the fact that this reprioritizes the 50 front burners over at the s.e.c., i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 5019. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair -- mr. garrett: mr. speaker, may i have a recorded vote, yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen having risen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this uestion will be postponed.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? >> i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 2901 as amended, to amend the flood disaster protection act of 1973 to require that certain buildings and personal property be covered by flood insurance and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the tile of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 2091, a bill to

amend the flood protection act of 1973 to require that certain buildings be covered by flood insurance and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida, mr. ross, and the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. capuano each will control 20 minutes. mr. ross: i ask unanimous consent that all members may have have five legislative days to resize and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this bill. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. ross: providing american owners more options in the flood insurance marketplace has been one of my top priorities since i was elected to congress. private competition will lead to greater innovation and more policies for consumers. we have seen floods devastate communities. most recently in houston and

just last august in my own congressional district. every state and every congressional district is at risk for flooding. with hurricane season just a few weeks away from beginning, it is time for congress to take action to benefit and better protect consumers. unfortunately, regulatory barriers and the bias of regulators favoring national flood insurance policies have led to the development of a private insurance marketplace. this was not the intention of the biggert-waters act. with that in mind, i worked with my colleague from across the aisle, representative murphy, to introduce h.r. 2901. it will remove the unnecessary regulatory barriers and require agencies to accept private flood insurance. under current law, consumers are limited to the coverage options.

for example, nfip policy covers up to $250,000 worth of damages. in addition, the policy does not cover its living expenses such as temporary housing if they are displaced. nfip case of a business, does not provide coverage for financial losses. while it is limited in what their policies can cover the private sector is not. the private sector will provide incentives to invest and this increased emphasis omit gation will benefit homeowners and taxpayers. $1 of investment in mitigation, communities see a savings of up to $4 in government-funded disaster relief. i want to thank chairman hensarling and my subcommittee chair. i want to thank the ranking member, maxine waters with

working with my staff. this legislation is supported by a number of stakeholders from he realtors and national insurance commissioners and housing organizations on. march 2, 2016, this legislation passed out of the house financial services committee by 53-0. with strong bipartisan support i'm encouraged that congress is taking such an important step on behalf of consumers not only in florida but consumers across the country. i urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in passing this bipartisan legislation that will encourage the expansion of a well regulated more affordable private insurance option for homeowners and i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. capuano: i rise to support this bill and i want to congratulate, mr. ross and mr. murphy coming up with this

bipartisan legislation. the issues surrounding flood insurance are difficult, complicated and where there are differences of opinion of how much a role private insurance can play. this bill threads that needle. this bill says we agree there is more room for private insurance and should remove any barriers that might be there so people can be better served and have better competition. this bill does a pretty good job of doing that. there is a different debate for a different day that private insurance will take over the national flood insurance. we are working on that and mr. ross has been a leader and so has mr. murphy and look forward to doing more. this particular bill is one good step in the right direction. and i want to congratulate the two authors and i look forward to supporting this bill and i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. ross: i would like to

recognize -- yield to mr. royce from california, such time as he may consume. mr. royce: i rise today in support of this legislation. this is the flood snurges market parity and modern decision act. since its inceptionack in 1968, the national flood insurance program was never intended to cover policies that the private sector was able and willing to underwrite. in fact, one stated goal for the program was tt, quote, the federal government would create an opportunity for private industry to obtain, experience and operate in the flood insurance program and that some time in the future, the program could become an all-private program, end quote. nearly 50 years have passed and to no one's surprise private

sector flood insurance rk modeling and annual ics have improved. while this house may not be readyoake up complete privatization, it is time for the private market to uerwrite primary flood insurance policies. passagef this bipartisan bill means more consumer choice, more market cpetition and means more product innovation and consumers for the first time will be able to sh for a flood policy that fits their particular needs. so this bill alshas the added benefit of decreasing the aggregate flood insurance exposure to the federal government and decreasing the potential for future taxpayer backed bailout, which is very, very important. so i commend both the gentleman from florida for their work, both of them, on this important issue and urge my colleagues to support this legislation and with that, i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. capuano: we reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida. mr. ross: now i would like to yield to my good friend from new mexico, mr. pierce, such time as he may consume. pierce pierce you might wonder why someone -- mr. pearce: you mites wonder why someone from new mexico is speaking about flood insurance issues. we get nine inches of rain. we begin at 3,500 feet of elevation and work up from there. the way this national flood insurance program has worked out in the past is that people are required because they happen to be in a flood plain and not dealing whether or not they should be on a flood plain. they only get the one government-sized bid. so most egregious circumstance

that exists that one of my constituents said i live at the top of a 7,000 foot mountain and the water is down here at 4,000 feet, 3,000 feet below me and i have to buy flood insurance. that's egregious, but the fact he has to pay the premiums based on the standards that might exist in florida is the egregious part. it keeps houses from selling and keeps people from buying houses in new mexico because they have been defined in a flood plain. if the market was out there, companies would say that guy is never going to flood, i can charge him a minute amount and yet nothing like that exists. we are paying to the same standards as the people in florida pay when we get nine inches a year. i appreciate the gentleman's attempt to bring some competition to the workplace and appreciate mr. capuano's support

and mr. murphy's underlying co-sponsorship. and i yield back to the gentleman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. capuano: you learn something new every day. i'm one of those people i never expected a guy from new mexico to be speaking on the flood insurance bill. thank you, mr. pearce, for educating me enfurther. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. ross: i thank the gentleman from massachusetts for his leadership in this regard. look, this isn't the be all to end all, but best first step to make sure we give our consumers affordable options and as we address the re-authorization of the biggert-waters act next year this will bring the private sector back into the market to show they are willing to assume

some of the risks to the benefit of the consumers and there are quite a few groups. includes the reinsurance association of america, national taxpayers' union, american insurance association, mortgage bankers association and r street. i urge my colleagues to join us and pass this bill and i yield back. . the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house uspend the rules and pass h.r. 2901. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative -- ros-lehtinen mr. speaker, i ask the yeas and nays -- mr. ross: mr. speaker, i ask the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this

question will be postponed. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio seek recognition? mr. joyce: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 223, as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar s mber 354, h.r. 223, a bill to authorize the great lakes

restoration initiative, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from ohio, mr. gibbs, and the gentleman from oregon, mr. defazio, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from ohio. mr. gibbs: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. -- mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material is on h.r. 223, as amended. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. gibbs: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. gibbs: thank you, mr. speaker. i appreciate the opportunity to bring up h.r. 223, the great lakes restoration initiative act of 2016. introduced by my ohio colleague, congressman david joyce on the floor today. the great lakes are an important resource to the united states. more than 30 million people live in the great lakes region and the lakes help support over $200 billion in -- a year in economic activity. a great lakes interagency task force of federal agencies was

created in 2004 by executive order to help ensure coordination between the federal, state and private parties protecting and restoring the great lakes. in 2010, the task force released an action plan as part of the great lakes restoration initiative to accelerate efforts to protect and restore the great lakes. under the initiative, the environmental protection agency collaborates with other federal partners, including the great lakes interagency task force, to select the best combination of projects and activities for great lakes protection and restoration. in september of 2014, the federal agencies released an updated action plan 2 which summarizes the actions that federal agencies plan to implement during fiscal years 2015 through 2019. the action plan aims to strategically target the biggest threats to the great lakes ecosystem and to accelerate progress toward long-term goals. h.r. 223 will formerly authorize the great lakes

restoration initiative for five years and modify the program based on recommendations that the committee receives from stakeholders hearings and g.a.o. reports during commult am years of -- during multiple years of oversight. this is a positive step forward for the great lakes region and our nation's most valuable resources. mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from oregon is recognized. mr. defazio: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. defazio: mr. speaker, i rise in support of h.r. 223, the great lakes restoration initiative act of 2016. this bill extends the great lakes restoration initiative program which has had bipartisan support among the great lakes delegation for five years. i want to thank my colleagues, representative david joyce, dan

i will pins could he, rick nolan r their hard work and dan lipinski, rick nolan for their hard work and the midwest delegation worked diligently to get this bill to the floor for consideration and i want to thank them all for a job well done. it accelerates effort to protect and restore the great lakes, the largest system of surface freshwater in the world, through unprecedented federal agency coordination, development of partnerships with the great lakes states and local communities. the initiative has already funded more than 2,000 projects to improve water quality, protect and restore native habitat, prevent and control invasive species in the great lakes. mr. speaker, legislation similar to this bill considered in the consolidations act of 2016. however, that authorization was only for one fiscal year. this legislation provides for a full five-year

re-authorization. that timeline is necessary to allow many projects, longer term projects to be planned, capitalized and completed. further, this bill will allow states and local communities to coordinate nate their efforts to deal with harmful algal blooms for the first time. it shut down the drinking water system in toledo, ohio, for three days in 2014 and re-emerged in 2015, are still fresh in our memories. for this reason i'm pleased this legislation includes the text of 1923, h.r. 1923, sponsored by the gentleman from ohio, mr. ryan, to require e.p.a. to appoint a federal coordinator to work with the federal government agencies, the states, the tribes and other stakeholders to address the recurring challenges of algal blooms in the great lakes. this coordinator will ensure that glri funds are utilized the most efficient and effective way to reduce nutrients finding their way into the lakes.

lastly, this bill includes savings clause that the glri authorization does not expand the regulatory authority of e.p.a. related to restoration of the great lakes. i did not advocate for this provision. however, let's make it clear. here today on the floor that this language should not be interpreted as preventing e.p.a. or other federal agencies from continuing to utilize their existing authorities to address ongoing water quality challenges facing the lakes. accordingly, this bill should help ensure that the federal departments are able to fund work using all the existing tools in the toolbox that cause harmful algal blooms and other pollution and prevent asian carp and clean up concerns and other high-priority threats. mr. speaker, i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting h.r. 223. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oregon reserves. the gentleman from ohio is

recognized. mr. gibbs: mr. speaker, i yield three minutes to my colleague from ohio, congressman dave joyce, who's been a strong advocate for protection of the great lakes and sponsor of the bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. speaker, i rise today in support of h.r. 223, the great lakes restoration initiative act of 2016. first, i want to thank my good friend, bob gibbs from ohio, for helping me shepherd this legislation through the t.n.i. committee. i also want to thank chairman shuster for lending a hand and providing guidance on this. now, i may sound like a broken record but one of the greatest natural resources and economic powerhouses we have in the united states and the world for that matter is the great lakes. i think the resource is incredibly important because in the future fresh water is going to be the new gold. if you believe that like i do, you understand why the great lakes are so important. let me give you a few quick

facts about this treasure. the great lakes contains 1/5 of the world's fresh surface water. it contains 85% of the fresh surface water in north america. and in the u.s., the great lakes accounts for 95 pushes of the fresh surface water. that's a lot of fresh water. if you took the water and spread it evenly across the continental united states, the great lakes would submerge our country under 9 1/2 feet of water. these lakes provide more than 35 million people with their drinking water. these great lakes support more than 3,500 species of plants and animals. studies have shown that more than 1 1/2 million jobs are connected to the five lakes and they generate $62 billion in wages. now, i know i've uttered those facts around the capitol like a broken record since i got here as have others, but these are powerful in telling our story. an investment in protecting this national treasure is a small down payment in protecting the drinking water

for millions of people. this legislation will continue to make sure that we look at these great lakes as a national treasure and coordinate our investment in protecting them. please stand with me today and sending a message to protect and preserve our great lakes. thank you, again, mr. speaker, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oregon is recognized. mr. defazio: mr. speaker, i yield three minutes to the gentleman from ohio, mr. ryan. mr. ryan: i'd like to thank the gentleman and also thank my colleagues from ohio. this has been one of the true bipartisan issues that we've dealt with, so i'd like to thank mr. gibbs and mr. joyce, s. kaptur, marcia fudge, jim enacci and includes pete visclosky. the great lakes are a huge issue but also for us lake erie s a huge issue, and my legislation was put into this

bill to require the e.p.a. to appoint a coordinator to address the issue of harmful algae blooms in the great lakes. we have so many groups interested but we need the e.p.a. to help coordinate and our friends help get this language into this bill and i'm deeply grateful for that. these harmful algae blooms affect over half a million ohioans. and did in 2014. lake erie provides clean drinking water for approximately three million ohioans, many of them up in around the cleveland and toledo area. in august, 2014, we had an environmental disaster caused by harmful algae bloom that left over 500,000 residents of toledo and the western basin without safe drinking water for three days. lake erie's tourist industry generates $12.9 billion in visitors' spending, including

119,000 jobs and contributed $1.7 billion in federal, state and local taxes. this crisis just continues to build, and it's critical we start working together to come up with a plan to stem the growing tide. the great lakes abundance of fresh water is a vital resource and a strategic advantage and it's critical to get everything in our power to combat the threats to the great lakes that threaten the health and well-being of ohio and other states surrounding the great lakes. so we must do everything we can. this language helps to make that happen. this language will ensure that there's a coordinator at the e.p.a. to work with the appropriate federal, state, local, tribal, foreign governments to address this critical issue affecting the state of ohio. the changes in our economy and as we see what's happening out west, we're reminded every single day

how critical and lucky for those in the great lakes region to be able to access this fresh water so, again, i thank my friends from ohio. i thank mr. shuster from this committee, mr. defazio and others for making this happen and for including this language in the bill and with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields, the gentleman from ohio is recognized. mr. gibbs: i yield three minutes to the gentleman from michigan, mrs. miller, who has fought for years to protect the great lakes. mrs. miller: thank you, mr. chairman. i appreciate you yielding the time and, mr. speaker, i rise today to express my very, very strong support of h.r. 223, which is the great lakes restoration initiative act of 2016. actually as the chairman said, protecting and preserving the great lakes has been a principal advocacy for myself and for the years i started in public service. i grew up on the great lakes. i live near the great lakes. the lakes were more of a source

of reryation, they put food on the table for my family. the great lakes are such a proud, proud part of our hair tiff, of our identity. our great lakes, as been said, generate billions of dollars each and every year through fishing, through the shipping industry, recreational activities. they account for 85% to 90% of our nation's fresh water drinking supply. 20% worldwide. there's more fresh water under the polar ice caps but you cannot get at it. you can't get at it to drink it. you can get at the great lakes. that's why we're so always wanting to protect the great lakes. we owe it to future generations to ensure they are protected and preserved as well. one of the ways to do it is through continued funding in support of this initiative. for years, the administration has proposed budgets that includes cuts of millions of dollars. but it is this congress that has

stepped in to recover this funding and that is one of the reasons i support this bill because it does authorize funding at the essential levels, $300 million for the next five years and i will join my colleagues in pointing out this is a bipartisan effort as you can tell by the people on the floor. most of us are from the great lakes, whether ohio, michigan or some of the other great lakes' states. it's not just a regional tool but a national treasure and deserve to be protected in that way and over the years i have seen firsthand the impacts that glri is having on our lakes whether beach and shoreline restoration, fighting invasive species. last fall, i was delighted to be part of the unveiling of $20 million of glri grants for the clinton river restoration. it flows through a major metro area is in desperate need of

restoration. this funding will go a long way n ensuring it is no longer a concern. god gave us these magnificent great lakes that have provided us with so much, but we need to be better stewards of them. and we have a lot of making up to do to mother nature. a lot of making up. this bill goes a long way in bringing the necessary attention and resources to a problem we have identified and need to address. i strongly support the great lakes restoration initiative act and i urge my colleagues to support it as well. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the gentleman from oregon is recognized. mr. defazio: i yield three minutes to the gentleman from michigan, mr. kildee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. kildee: thank you. and i thank my friend, the ranking member, for yielding, and i also want to thank folks

on both sides of the aisle for their great work on this great lakes restoration initiative, particularly my colleague from michigan, congresswoman miller, who will be leaving congress at the end of this year and a defender of the great lakes and it is a fitting part of her legacy that this legislation will hopefully pass this house of representatives. being from michigan and being part of the great lakes and growing up around the lakes and in the lakes, gives us a lot of pride in my home state. it's the greatest freshwater source on the planet. provides drinking water to over 30 million americans, a great economic resource as well, great benefits to our entire nation, supports millions of jobs and billions of income every year derived from the dependence we have on this great resource, it supports commerce, agriculture,

transportation, tourism. home to over 3,500 species, plants and animals. incredible ecosystem. but we know that the threat to the lakes, the multiple threats to the lakes are real. invasive species like asian carp and habitat loss, we have to do everything we can within our power to protect the great lakes and combat these really clear present threats. so i'm really proud in a very bipartisan fashion to support full funding for the delakes restoration initiative to protect and restore that which we've lost in the largest system of fresh water in the world. in the short time that the glri has been in place, we have made progress and we know this is an effective program addressing long standing environmental problems confronting the lakes. over 2,500 individual projects

have already been implemented to improve water quality, to clean up contaminated shore lines to protect and restore native habitats and species and to control invasive species. but we're here because we know we have to do more. and i join my colleagues in urging congress to join us in supporting the economic and environmental health of the great lakes and making this a permanent part of american law. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from ohio is recognized. mr. gibbs: we are done with speakers. i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from ohio reserves. the gentleman from oregon. mr. defazio: i have no additional speakers and i would be willing to yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is will the house -- mr. gibbs: i still have -- the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman from ohio. mr. gibbs: i would like to make a couple closing comments. we have some hearings in my subcommittee on this and part of our oversight responsibilities to make sure taxpayer dollars are being spent the way they should be. we requested a g.a.o. report and pleased to announce that the report came back favorable, that the money is to be invested to proket the great lakes and it is intended to be, the only negative that was in the report which is minor was the e.p.a. needs to do a better job working together and communicating and already did that when they started the report. i want to ensure our fiscal hawks that this money is being spent the way it was intended and that was part of our oversight duties. in conclusion, i urge our support of h.r. 2 23 to protect -- h.r. 223 to protect and

enhance the great lakes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is will the house pass h.r. 223. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rule is suspended and the bill is passed and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. h.r. 223 as amended. for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio seek recognition? mr. gibbs: i move to suspend the rules and pass s. 1523 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: senate 1523 an act to amend the federal water pollution control act to authorize the nationales tu area

rogram and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from ohio, mr. gibbs and the gentleman from oregon, mr. defazio each will control 20 minutes. mr. gibbs: i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on s. 1523. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman is recognized. mr. gibbs: i yield myself such time as i may consume. today we are here to re-authorize the national estuary program found in section 320 of the clean water act. last june here in the house we passed h.r. 944 and today we are passing senate bill 1523 which was introduced by senator whitehouse. estuaries are unique waters that are important to the ecological and economic bases of our

nation. congress first authorized the program in 1987 with amendments to the clean water act to promote the protection of nationally significant estuaries in the united states that are deemed to be threatened by pollution, development or overuse. unlike many of the programs in the clean water act, the national program is a nonregulatory program and it is designed to support the collaborative voluntary efforts of federal, state and local stakeholders to restore degraded estuaries. ing the process instead of a top-down driven regulatory approach, the program has been effective in promoting local involvement. in addition, leverages non-fd monies by providing funding for the program. in re-authorizing the national estuary program. it makes prudent fiscal

adjustments. the amendment to senate bill 1523 strikes the text of the senate bill and instead uses the legislative text of the house-passed h.r. 944, an agreement which was reached to split the differences in authorized levels in the two bills. the bill re-authorizes section 320 of the clean water act rough 2021 at an amount of $25.6 million a year. this is consistent with ropingses of the past five years and in recognition of the fiscal realities of today. senate bill 1523 directs more funds to where they need to be. the individual estuaries in the program. the bill reduces the amount of discretionary funds made available. the bill allocates the program funds for competitive rewards to federal, state and local stakeholders to address certain high priority estuary needs

including hypoxia, flooding and invast i have species. i urge members to support the bill and i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from ohio reserves. the gentleman from oregon is recognized. mr. defazio: i yield myself such time as i may consume. i rise in support of s. 1523. i'm pleased the house is again considering legislation to re-authorize e.p.a.'s national estuary program. last summer, the house approved by voice vote championed by my colleagues from washington and florida. i thank them for their hard work and dedication to produce this important piece of legislation. this is integral to our economy and environment and formed when fresh water misses with salty ater and are a feeding ground.

estuaries maintain healthy ocean and coastal environments by filtering pollutants that flow through our rivers and streams. moreover during storm and flood events, estuaries help defend our shores. more than one half of our population lives in coastal areas. and they are dependent on the sulltiveation. habitats provide for millions of jobs and contribute trillions to our national economy every year. these jobs are created by commercial, recreational, fishing, boating, tourism and other forms of recreation taking place just off our shores. as one of my colleagues noted during previous consideration of this legislation, restoring our estuaries can create more than 30 jobs for every $1 million invested. regrettably before we understood

fully understood the extraordinary and irreplaceable value of estuaries, numerous activities were undertaken that have led to the decline in the health of our estuaries leaving these coastal areas vulnerable to pollution and more frequent and storm events. it is unden ible that the population growth has led to increased stormwater runoff. simply put, estuaries are too important to leave their fate to chance. we consider s. 1523 desperately needed legislation that will re-authorize the program. since 1987, the national estuary program has operated at e.p.a. in with partnership and water quality problems and environments. this nonregulatory program works to improve the health of 28

estuaries across the country including three in the northwest, puget sound to be one of them. estuaries of great importance to my home state, oregon and regional and national economies. restoring these areas should be one of our highest concerns. this bipartisan bill will ensure that local organizations across the country in partnership with the e.p.a. can protect and restore estuaries. i support passage of this legislation and hope that this is the last time this house must act to send this important bill to the president. i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting s. 1523. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oregon reserves. the gentleman from ohio. mr. gibbs: i yield to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. lobiondo, who is the sponsor of the bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized.

mr. lobiondo: first i would like to thank chairman shuster and chairman gibbs, ranking member defazio and napolitano and helping to draft this legislation and re-authorization and we all share the hope that this is the last go-around to get this done. estuaries across the nation have immeasurable economic, ecological and environmental benefit. they deserve continued congressional support. this version of the nationales few area program re-authorization is bipartisan, fiscally responsible compromise that reduces the re-authorization by $8.5 million but increases the amount of money eaches tu area program ill receive -- estuary program